Rosaline Canessa

My background lies in marine biology (BSc), coastal resource development and protection (MSc(Eng)), and GIS-based decision support systems (PhD). Between various stages of my academic career, I have worked as a marine environmental consultant for 8 years in Scotland, the Caribbean and Canada on a wide range of projects including integrated coastal management, marine protected areas, marine recreation, aquaculture, offshore oil and gas, marine ecological classification, environmental impact assessments, marine data management, GIS analysis and coastal atlases.

Since 2003 I have been a faculty member in the Geography Department at the University of Victoria. My research focuses on: (1) coastal planning and management and marine protected areas, and (2) the development and evaluation of spatial tools to improve decision making relating to marine conservation and use. Most of my research takes place in British Columbia. I teach in courses on Environment, Society and Sustainability, Geography of the Coastal Zone, Coastal and Marine Resources, Coastal Field Studies, Introduction to Geographical Information, Introduction to Geographic Information Science and Advanced GIS.